East Central Reporter

Men's Basketball Back Home On Saturday Hosting SEMO

GAME 23
Eastern Illinois had a second half rally come up just short for the second straight Thursday as the Panthers wrapped up a three-game Ohio Valley Conference road swing with a four point loss at Southern Indiana.  The loss dropped EIU to 7-15 overall, 3-6 in the OVC.  The Panthers have one more three-game road swing in mid-February as they have now lost 11 straight OVC road games.  At home, EIU has been good in OVC play currently holding a 3-1 record as they host Southeast Missouri.  The Redhawks are one of five teams tied for first in the league standings with a 6-3 OVC record.  SEMO is 11-11 overall having won five of their last six games.

HAFFNER BIG IN START AT USI
Cameron Haffner exploded for a team high 17 points on Thursday at Southern Indiana with all of his points coming in the second half.  It was tied for the second highest scoring total in a half this season by a Panther behind 19 points by Kinyon Hodges at UT Martin and tied with Yaakema Rose Jr, 17 points at IUPUI.  Haffner was 3-of-6 from 3-point range as he ranks seventh in the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage.  It gave him back-to-back double figure games and four for the season.  Haffner also had 15 points in the second half against St. Mary of the Woods College and ten in the second half last Saturday at UTM.

STRONG SECOND HALF SHOOTING AGAIN
Eastern Illinois connected for 62.1 percent from the floor in the second half at Southern Indiana to finish the game shooting 47.6 percent from the floor.  It was the second consecutive Thursday night road game that EIU caught fire in the second half.  Last week the Panthers shot 67.6 percent from the field in the second half at Tennessee State.  EIU has now shot 60 percent or better in a half seven times this season with five of those in the second half.

Original source can be found here